Heroes Lost and Found

by Sheryl Nantus

  “Do they charge by the hour?”

  His sheepish smile told me the answer.

  I sighed and stretched out my hand. “Don’t say a word. Please.”

  A few minutes later we were aloft, skimming the tops of the trees as I tried to navigate in the bright morning light. It didn’t take long to spot the hotel from our height—it appeared as sleazy as I feared, the single-level building a long, fat slash in the wilderness.

  I landed just shy of the parking lot in the trees, not wanting to make a big show. As it was I was terrified that some tabloid would see us together and have the story online within minutes of Jo Tanis in a secret love hideout with a mysterious pudgy fellow.

  I shuddered.

  “You okay?” Harris tapped me on the shoulder.

  “Yeah, just trying not to think too much.” I dug in my back pocket, grateful my wallet had survived the incident. “Go get us a room. Get a corner one if possible, far away from the main office.” I handed him a wad of cash. “Do I have to tell you to use a pseudonym?”

  Harris chuckled. “Think Mr. Dillon would work?”

  “Not likely,” Hunter growled over both links. “And if you do, I will take it out of your hide when we get there.”

  Harris raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, I get it. Sheesh, can’t a guy make a joke?”

  “Just go and get the key and get back here. And check if they have any vending machines.” I touched my belly. “Might need a snack by the time we figure this thing out.”

  He shook his head but said nothing, choosing to pick his way out of the brush towards the parking lot.

  “What’s the plan, Jo?” Hunter asked. “Switched us to private, so no one else is listening.”

  “I’m not giving you link sex, before you ask,” I replied. “Too tired.”

  “That’s not what you said the other night,” he joked.

  “Why do you think I let you do all the work?” I brushed my fingers over my face, wincing at the sore spots.

  “Now that we’ve gotten that out of our systems, what’s the plan? Other than wait for us to arrive, which is totally fine with me, just so you know.”

  “I’m going to mull things over with Harris and see what we can do to get back into town and talk to Kit before Dykovski gets there.”

  A series of clicks came over the line, the sound of teeth clacking together.

  “Must be interference from the satellites. I could have sworn you said you were going to talk to Kit Masters, the man who just tried to barbeque you.”

  “I am.” I kept talking before Hunter could interrupt me. “He’s crazed, but he’s still a super and we need him with us, not against us. We don’t need a three-way battle going on in the town square. I can appeal to his vanity, appeal to his ego and turn him back to Harris’s original plan of following Dykovski home to his den.”

  “Just for the sake of argument, let me present an alternative scenario.” He drew a deep breath, preparing for battle. “You get out of there as far and as fast as you can and wait for us somewhere far, far away from Kensington Grove. You’re both vulnerable to Dykovski, and that’s without adding in the wonderful random factor of a bat-shit crazy Alpha.”

  “Hunter, they’re going to tear this town up trying to kill each other if Harris doesn’t show up for the meeting.” I looked around, making sure there was no one nearby. “Kit’s on a mission. So’s Dykovski. And the civilians are going to suffer. If not here, wherever they clash. Neither one gives a damn about the body count.”

  “I know and I don’t care. My priority is keeping you safe.”

  “My priority is saving lives. And so is yours if you’d pull your head out of your heart for a second.”

  A mumbled curse came over the line. “I knew this was going to happen.”

  “What?”

  “A conflict of interest,” he said in a soft voice. “The Guardian knows what you can do and what you need to do. The lover says not a chance, get her to safety.”

  “Are you having second thoughts?” I stumbled through the words.

  “About us?”

  “Yes.” The lump in my throat was the size of a minivan. “Any regrets?”

  “That you’re not here in my bed, safe and sound. And tied up to keep you there.”

  My cheeks were hot, and not just from Kit’s attack.

  “Look, I’m not going to stop worrying about you whether we’re together or not. I’m your Guardian, no matter what. And I want to keep you alive and safe. But don’t think I’m happy about you deciding to follow this route.”

  I clenched my fists at my side. “It’s my decision to make. It’s my team and my life and my job. We’re not going to pass up on a chance to get Dykovski now that we’re here—we might never get a better one. If it puts me in danger, it puts me in danger. I can’t ask everyone else to do the heavy lifting while I snuggle in bed with you.”

  “I’ll bring donuts.” There was a hopeful lilt to his voice.

  My stomach growled at the bribe attempt.

  “Not even if they were chocolate-covered.”

  Another series of curses came down the line. “You can’t blame me for trying, Jo.”

  “Not at all.” I chuckled. “I’d be disappointed if you tried anything less, sweetie. Now, get back into Guardian mode and get it in gear. Snugglebunnies later, promise.”

  “I can have Outrager send in the National Guard. Evacuate the town and lay down some sort of trap,” he offered with a lilt in his voice, already anticipating the answer.

  I giggled, my raw throat aching with the effort. “They’re not going to be able to contain Dykovski and his thugs, never mind Kit Masters. Add in at least one armored suit and a ton of super weapons if he brings the new toys along, and it’ll be a bloodbath for the troops. And if he escapes, we’ll never be able to track him down—he’ll go so far underground he’ll be the new Mole Master.”

  “Oh.” Hunter chortled. “I remember him. Sweet man but bad, bad hygiene.”

  I tapped my forehead, bringing an idea to the surface. “Maybe we can quietly evac the town with local law enforcement. A mass exodus is going to look suspicious and tip off both Masters and Dykovski if people start running in all directions, panicking left and right.”

  “With you and Harris in the middle of it all.”

  “We don’t have a choice. If we don’t interfere, it’ll be worse than Fremont Street.” I flashed back to seeing him lying against a slot machine, injured while trying to help civilians escape Lamarr’s attacks. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  The weary sigh signaled my victory. “I don’t like it, Jo. Not one bit.”

  “I know.”

  “But you’re right.”

  “Pardon me? Is Jessie getting this on tape? Can we make this the new answering machine message?”

  “Don’t push it.” Hunter coughed. “If you can talk Kit into waiting until Harris at least meets with the rogues, we might be able to salvage something out of this without getting anyone hurt.”

  “Anything to avoid setting fire to this town,” I whispered as a beat-up truck came into the parking lot. The driver exited, a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a cowboy hat. He waved at someone in the vehicle and headed for the office.

  “Big if. You just zapped an Alpha who’s not going to be very open to discussion now. And is more than a little crazy.” He sounded apologetic, as if he’d been the one to send Kit over the edge.

  “Yep.”

  “But it’s all we got.”

  “Yep.”

  “Damn, I hate it when you’re right on things like this. Going to give me an inferiority complex.”

  I snorted. “Could use a little humility. You’re not all that and a bag of chips, you know.”

  “Didn’t say that the third time. Or the fourth. Or when you fainted.”

  “I didn’t faint. I just needed a rest.”

  “Yep. Sure. Yep.”

  “Okay, back to the entire saving-the-worl
d thing if you don’t mind.” I rubbed my cheeks, hoping the blush would disappear before Harris got back. “Got Jessie onboard?”

  “Just showed up, and we’re on the tarmac waiting tower clearance. He’s got a box of stuff and babbling about some new ideas he’s got in hand.”

  “Eep.” The sound was out of my mouth before I could self-edit.

  The man strode out of the office and waved at the pickup. A lady exited the passenger side, wearing about as much fabric as a washcloth. She sashayed over to him with a wide grin as he gestured towards a nearby room.

  Hunter responded, not knowing what I’d just seen. “Eep indeed.”

  “No, I’m just wondering how much we’re going to have to pay to stay here an entire night. I think this is one of those places that charges by the minute.”

  “Check for vibrating beds.” Hunter snickered. “Maybe give you some ideas.”

  “Oh, I don’t need any ideas,” I shot back. “Just remember who’s your boss.”

  “Here, yes. In bed, well…”

  “Harris is back. Switch us to the main channel.” I cut him off before we could start discussing that angle of our relationship once more. Our in-bed wrestling matches had become almost regular foreplay.

  The pudgy super waved me over. “I got us the last room, over there.” His hands were filled with chocolate bars and potato chip bags. “I figured I’d save you the trip. There’s a drink machine ’round the back of our room.”

  I relieved him of part of the burden, stuffing my pockets with the energy boosts. “Thank you. Team should be here within six hours, give or take a bit.”

  His pale face told me all I needed to know. The words stuttered out of my mouth. “And…and…that’s not enough time, you think.”

  He shook his head and led me across the parking lot. “Let’s get inside.”

  Harris fumbled with the old metal key for a second before finding the lock. I put it down more to his shivering than nerves. He swung the door open and waved me inside.

  I stepped inside, sniffing the air. It was a mixture of smoke, perfume and a few other scents I really, really did not want to try to identify.

  Harris flipped on the lights and closed the door behind him. “I got the last nonsmoking room.”

  “Wow.” I looked around the shoebox. A single double bed, an old squat television set against the far wall and a chair with numerous unknown stains all over the light brown cushions. Over the bed sat a large rectangular painting of cowboys wrestling with cattle.

  Not too long ago I’d been in a penthouse suite in Las Vegas, dining on lobster and anything else that wandered by. Like Hunter.

  So much for the glamorous life of a superhero.

  I ripped off the candy wrapper with my teeth and nibbled at the chocolate bar. It kept my mind off wondering why and how Harris knew this place. I didn’t even want to step on the floor and I was wearing running shoes.

  “Washroom’s over there if you, you know, wanna…” Harris drew his fingers over his face.

  “That bad?” I headed for the tiny room.

  “Well, it ain’t that good.” Harris’s comment followed me into the dark closet.

  I poked at the power switch until it connected, the humming of the fluorescent bar over the white porcelain sink loud and intermittent.

  The burns felt worse than they looked. The jacket had taken the worst of it, leaving my cheeks and chin with a light reddish tinge. I’d gotten worse going for a deep tan.

  I brushed my fingers over the annoyed skin and cringed. If I hadn’t gotten my arms up in time, I could be blind right now.

  The kernel of panic burst in my chest, the fear sending jagged shards through my confidence. Kit hadn’t flinched, hadn’t pulled any punches at tossing his power at me. A second later, an inch closer, and Harris might well be leading me around the forest, waiting for Hunter to pick us up and take over the team. What use would I be to them blind?

  I pushed away the dark thoughts by finishing off the chocolate bar and went back out into the bedroom.

  “No big,” I announced, keeping the tremors at bay.

  The bedspread was a dark, dingy red with a few bits of stuffing left. I folded it back threefold and sat on the edge of the bed. Harris moved to sit in the chair after picking up the television remote from the night table.

  “Let’s take it from the top without the beer and the crazy Alpha.” I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand. “Dude, what were you thinking? You’re smarter than this. What were you doing after you left us? Before you met Kit?”

  Harris sighed. “It’s sort of complicated.”

  “I’ve got time.” I nodded towards the television set. “I doubt they carry the Food Network.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “When I left you guys, when I walked away at the graveyard, I headed west. Thought I’d feel better over here. Get away from everything, everyone. Heard rumor there was monasteries taking in supers.”

  I couldn’t help giggling at the mental image of Harris in a monk’s robe.

  He grinned. “Yeah, I know. Didn’t turn out to be anything, but I kept wandering and thinking about what I wanted to do.” He twiddled the remote between his fingers. “I kinda liked being with Steve again. And you and Peter and Hunter and…” His face darkened as he left the last name unmentioned.

  “May.”

  Maybelline Andrews had been the first super to fall from the Protectors, died before we’d even named the team. A strong psychic, she arrived with Hunter, her Guardian, and smothered us all with her infectious good attitude, unwavering stand against swearing, and mother-hen loving. Slotted to the side as a B-level super because of her age and her ability not exactly being suitable for television and big ratings, she’d made the conscious decision to sacrifice herself to defeat the aliens in one last defiant mind blast.

  Her death hit us all hard, no one more than Hunter. With her dying breath she’d transferred ownership of her Guardian to me, complicating our relationship to the nth degree. But we’d been working it out.

  “I just… I just…” he mumbled. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about how happy the people were, the ones we helped in Pittsburgh.”

  We’d rushed to Pittsburgh to defend it from an alien attack and helped in the evacuation of the population. It’d been our first real outing as superheroes and not as faux television stars.

  It had felt darned good. And addictive.

  “All you had to do was call.” The words sounded lame even as I said them. “We’d have taken you back in a heartbeat.”

  “I thought about it, and then Kit tripped over me in Columbus. He sent a note asking for a meeting. He was a cool guy at first, telling me about his old battles and all that, and he was an Alpha, someone I’d never get a chance to hang with in real life or when I was a villain.” He shook his head. “May would be so pissed at me.”

  “She’d give you one helluva headache,” I joked. In the short time she’d been with us she’d mentally smacked Harris more than once for his crude language and rather rude attitude. She’d earned his respect without giving an inch. “Kit was looking for a patsy, someone he could offer up to Dykovski as bait. You were in the right place at the wrong time.”

  Harris chuckled. “Figures. Always seems to happen that way.” He let out a deep sigh. “I was a fool.”

  “Not really. Your heart was in the right place. Just not your mind.” I tapped the top of my head with my knuckles, making a popping noise. “Why did you ask for me to come alone? I know you said it was to keep it less stressful on Kit and all that, but I don’t believe it.”

  “I…I wanted to talk to you. Without the rest of the gang.” Harris rubbed the top of his balding head. “I figured Kit would be thrilled to see you and then we’d be able to call in the rest of the team after he was cool with you.”

  I couldn’t help smiling. “You just wanted me all to yourself, didn’t you?”

  He giggled in spite of the situation. “Can’t say there wasn’t
a bonus there.” He drew a ragged breath. “I wasn’t ready to face everyone else. Didn’t want them to know I couldn’t cut it out here in the real world without the Agency holding my hand and telling me what to do.”

  “I hear you.” I picked at a stray thread, tugging it free. “It’s scary for everyone. Suddenly we’re in freefall and no parachute in sight.”

  “Except you don’t need one.” Harris gave me a sly grin. “So, you and Hunter. Who’s on top?”

  The loud curse coming through the link deafened both of us for a minute. I instinctively clapped my hands over my ears.

  “Okay, okay. Just kidding.” Harris pouted. “No one’s got a sense of humor anymore.”

  I leaned forward. “Let’s talk about the deal you cut with Dykovski. When did you start this insanity?”

  He scratched the back of his neck, digging deep into the skin. “Day after you killed Lamarr. Kit saw the coverage and started screaming about Dykovski. He’d been grumpy, watching you at Fremont, but he freaked out when he saw the last fight.”

  I closed my eyes, remembering the cold clamminess of the cave.

  “Right after that he got online and watched the chatter. Controller was still trying to be tough, bragging he had some newbies in reserve and that he was going through with his plan.” Harris’s voice was low and rough. “Kit about broke the keyboard before he calmed down and told them I wanted to join up, get in the game.”

  “He pretended to be you.”

  “Couldn’t tell the Controller who he was,” Harris said, nearly childlike. “Dykovski answered back a few hours later, and we started making arrangements. He said he had some things to do before connecting with me.”

  “Probably raid another cache,” I mused aloud. “Move to another base of operations, away from Vegas.” My attention returned to Harris. “When’s he due to come into town? And what was the original plan?”

  “The deal had Dykovski coming at three o’clock to meet me.” He gulped. “Today.”

  “And that’s in…” I glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table, “…four hours. The math doesn’t work.” My fingers twitched as I counted off the hours, the minutes until this meeting. “What the hell were you thinking?” I couldn’t help smiling. “We’re not running on a performance schedule anymore, dude.”